18 boxes

The collection is arranged in five series

Series 1: Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series audio tapes, contains 17 sub-series arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Audiovisual materials, contains 2 sub-series arranged alphabetically my artist

Series 3: Papers

Series 4: Scores

Series 5: Gerald Burks Wilson Materials

Collection, 1957-1997 (bulk 1977-1994), consisting chiefly of audio recordings (reel-to-reel and cassette) of the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series; video cassettes; scores, including several compositions and arrangements by Gerald Burks Wilson; and papers, including concert programs and correspondence relating to the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series.

Wright, Wendell G. (1921-2000)
Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series

Wendell G. Wright, born August 18, 1921, was an East Baltimore native who attended Douglass High School. He had desired to attend the Peabody Conservatory after graduation but was denied admission because he was an African American. He instead took private singing lessons in Baltimore and sang with choirs along the East Coast. He became the first African American to join Baltimore's Handel Choir and performed at the White House at one of President Richard M. Nixon's prayer breakfasts.

Wright devoted his life and resources to helping young singers and musicians. He started the Young Artists Series at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church in the spring of 1977. This soon evolved into the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series, named for Wright's first wife, who passed away that year.  The Concert Series encouraged and supported performances by minority classical musicians. Wright’s efforts also resulted in the creation of the Community Outreach Committee at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he was appointed chairman of the Inclusion Committee, which brought more African Americans into the orchestra. Additionally, he created "Live, Gifted and Black," an annual concert where African-American artists performed the work of African-American composers with the BSO. Wright died on May 24, 2000, at the age of 78. His second wife Dorothy, to whom he was married in 1978, donated the collection after his death.